Highway Merging Etiquette

Earlier today I am coming up to speed getting ready to merge onto the interstate when I realize that I am going to need to merge right into the middle of a pack of Amigos Motorcycle Club riding in formation about 20 strong.  After a brief moment of anxiety the entire formation switched lanes and I avoided any confrontation.  This got me to thinking, what is the best way to merge into a group of 1 percenters?  Any tips or experiences?

From a motorcyclist point of view, do your best to avoid mixing into their group. If that happens again, just cruise the breakdown lane until they clear you. If you get between them it can create more chaos. Same goes for merging in general, most people don't seem to get just because you want to get in the lane doesn't mean there is room for you. Yielding is a lost art around here.

imgon said:

Yielding is a lost art around here.

^ Truth

Merging etiquette is the same no matter what, you yield the right of way to drivers occupying the roadway you are merging onto. With 1%ers I'd steer clear no matter.

My dad is the nicest guy in the world; but when someone is trying to merge he just ignores them and holds his spot. First time I saw it I thought he was just oblivious but he did it over and over driving through KC and by the end I was laughing. Viewing it from that perspective I realized that he is right, on ramp yields at all times.

The ramp by law has to yield but whenever possible I try to move out of the right lane to make both our drives easier. 

You are supposed to know where you are going to fit in as early as possible and vary your speed/ position to do it. The highway drivers are supposed to be able maintain their speed in the right lane without having to accommodate mergers. The fact that people are unconcerned with even trying  now has made the right lane useless for steady speed travel. Everyone then drives in the left or left two lanes and the right lane becomes the passing lane. That is the worst place for a passing lane because you now have a lane occupied by people trying to go 15mph over the speed limit and people merging at 15mph under the speed limit. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Teaching people to merge would fix a lot of whats wrong with interstate travel.

That said, in an emergency a single car can usually fit in a highway speed following distance. You just have to be bold enough to get there and realize you are being an ass to do it. A 60' long line of bikers-I have no clue what I would do. 

Having been in a group of bikes (christmas toy run) when some goof decides to merge into the middle of the pack instead of following what the police officer directing traffic was trying to tell him.

We simply have a couple riders move up on each side and box you in. Then you can sit there doing 30 in a 50 zone until we feel like letting you out again.

Many people will do the opposite of yield and close the gap in an effort to exclude merging traffic. 

Stopping to wait for a clear opening would effectively mean you would be on many on ramps for hours!  It may be the law, but it's just not reasonable in some circumstances.

I find matching speed with the traffic and slowly "zippering" in is the most practical approach.  Some people will take offense (unreasonable, and it is uncommon) but if find if I just match my front bumper with the rear of the car I am merging behind it's almost impossible to refuse (this is obvious only done at rather slow speeds in heavy traffic).  
 

For a group of motorcycles.  Yeah, I would do whatever I could to avoid going in the middle of one of those.

The only rational thing would be for the motorcyclists to quit riding in their huge group, because they are a pain in the ass.

Other than that, check earlier on your merge effort, and alter speed as required.

1988RedT2 said:

Many people will do the opposite of yield and close the gap in an effort to exclude merging traffic. 

Those people are called shiny happy people.

I always move over to let people in. We're all just trying to get someplace, man. Moving over or slowing down to let someone in is just being a considerate human being.

I watch every entrance ramp as they come into view. If I see someone merging, I'll try to make room for any big trucks to move out of the way of the merging vehicle, even if I have to slow down. 

I've noticed that a lot of drivers don't think about who's already coming down the highway until they get to the end of the entrance ramp, so you've got to do their thinking for them.

When I'm the one that's merging into traffic, I'll try to ease in fairly close to the back of another car, then establish a safe distance, or begin working my way into the left lanes.

The zipper technique has been discussed here before. 

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

The ramp by law has to yield... 

Unless you are in California where they switched it.

FFS please just get to highway speed (whatever that may be) by the time you reach the end of the ramp. 
 

and a 1% MC gang.. pull over and check your oil or something. 

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

1988RedT2 said:

Many people will do the opposite of yield and close the gap in an effort to exclude merging traffic. 

Those people are called shiny happy people.

I always move over to let people in. We're all just trying to get someplace, man. Moving over or slowing down to let someone in is just being a considerate human being.

Edit: closing the gap on purpose is a totally shiny happy person move.

As for the poor mergers: They are being massively inconsiderate and frankly downright dangerous. A semi, RV, or vehicle pulling a large trailer needs that right lane to travel around the speed limit. They are much more difficult to speed up, slow down, or change lanes in. Forcing them to adjust every few miles because someone does not have the ability to merge properly makes no sense. The constant changing lanes also makes the middle lane effectively a slow lane driving the people who want to go slightly faster than at or below the speed limit  to the left. Then its Mad max free for all time to anyone who wants to go even slightly faster  than the now slow left lane and the right lane becomes fair game. This means you get fast lane people constantly changing lanes from far left to far right and back just because people don't know how to merge. That is a much higher chance of accidents than if people just merged properly and let the right lane be a usable lane to travel long distances in.

That said-sometimes there is either too much traffic for people to merge easily and I will make a hole or people just make a mistake and I try let them in with as little disruption to everyone else as possible. I know how I would like for things to work and I know they don't so I just adapt and go about my drive. 

Paddle hard right?

In my area it is not uncommon to be doing 65-70 halfway down the ramp and have a solid gap that one could slip into when somebody on the freeway decides they are not going to let you pass them even though you are just trying to merge. I've been doing 90 trying to merge, slammed on the brakes, and ducked into line and the car that wouldn't let me in drops back down to mid-60s.

I know it is my responsibility to be a good merger and not affect the flow of traffic when I enter.  I hate it when people don't even think about their merge until there lane is about to end.  The elevation change on the on-ramp and the freeway restricted my visibility a bit and the motorcycles where coming on at a good clip.  If I had some boosts in the wife's Accord I would have just gassed it a bit and been in the clear.  The surprise/comedy of the situation was having a motorcycle gang appear that quickly, but they quickly moved over into the left lane so there weren't any issues.  I had some scenarios running through my head on what would have happened if I did have to end up in the middle of them.  Thanks for the input, the Hive knows all.

MrJoshua said:

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

1988RedT2 said:

Many people will do the opposite of yield and close the gap in an effort to exclude merging traffic. 

Those people are called shiny happy people.

I always move over to let people in. We're all just trying to get someplace, man. Moving over or slowing down to let someone in is just being a considerate human being.

Edit: closing the gap on purpose is a totally shiny happy person move.

As for the poor mergers: They are being massively inconsiderate and frankly downright dangerous. A semi, RV, or vehicle pulling a large trailer needs that right lane to travel around the speed limit. They are much more difficult to speed up, slow down, or change lanes in. Forcing them to adjust every few miles because someone does not have the ability to merge properly makes no sense. The constant changing lanes also makes the middle lane effectively a slow lane driving the people who want to go slightly faster than at or below the speed limit  to the left. Then its Mad max free for all time to anyone who wants to go even slightly faster  than the now slow left lane and the right lane becomes fair game. This means you get fast lane people constantly changing lanes from far left to far right and back just because people don't know how to merge. That is a much higher chance of accidents than if people just merged properly and let the right lane be a usable lane to travel long distances in.

That said-sometimes there is either too much traffic for people to merge easily and I will make a hole or people just make a mistake and I try let them in with as little disruption to everyone else as possible. I know how I would like for things to work and I know they don't so I just adapt and go about my drive. 

When I used to drive Commercial I usually stayed in the middle lane just because of the idiots who didn't know how to merge.  Slowing down to 45,mph in a 65 zone just so they could mosey on in without realizing there was a truck already there was not how I wanted to end a life.

In reply to Johnboyjjb :

When I lived in STL that was typical. When you were trying to merge, people in the right lane would mat the throttle - seriously, you could see the smoke - and then lock up the brakes to make their exit.  All they would have had to do was back off the throttle a little early, but no. 

As I've spent a rather ridiculous percentage of my life driving on highways, my goal is to avoid changing speeds whenever possible. For me, that usually means watching for merging traffic ahead of me, the traffic that may be closing in from behind me, and trying to judge how to change lanes in order to avoid anyone else really noticing.  It's really a game to me. A game that after some 34 years I'm pretty good at. When I'm merging myself, I learned early cars can lose speed much faster than they can gain it, so I typically try to merge into traffic at a greater speed than may be required and then try to slot into traffic without braking, and thus causing cars behind me to brake.

How I merge also depends on the vehicle I'm driving. The minivan (or any of the trucks I've had over the years) is not a "squirt" vehicle. It wants to get up to speed and stay there. Although it has enough power to do so quickly if asked to.  The MINI on the other hand, is definitely more of a "squirt" vehicle. Light with plenty of power, I can make quick decisions to place it in ways I won't really bother trying with the minivan.  The Triumphs are so small and low I drive them as if I were on a motorcycle and assume nobody sees me. 

While I respect motorcyclists and try my best to avoid creating conflict on the roadway, a train of cyclists aren't a monolithic structure.  It sounds like you encountered a smart group who had the situational awareness to pull over for a moment to allow merging traffic onto the interstate.  

Otherwise, I'm fine with sliding into their line and then on through to the left lane so I can cruise on at my speed.  Think of them like an amoeba, they can flow around bigger structures.

These motorcycle club people tend to not ride in single file and don't keep the recommended distance between themselves on highways (Remember one vehicle length per 10mph?).  One time I had to deal with a group riding under the speed limit in the passing lane and pacing an 18 wheeler going the same speed in the right lane.  Traffic was backed up half a mile. I had just merged and ended  up the  lead vehicle behind the truck and this biker gang was NOT GOING to LET ME PASS.

So  I suckered the "Chief" into slowing down even more by acting like I as respecting his turf, hanging back, pushing the line behind me back to mid -pack or so.  Once the gap opened up I  downshifted, floored the WRX and got through the gap.   I looked in the mirror and saw him waving at his crew to change lanes and let the parade behind them through.    

These people  tend to have a Pack obnoxiousness.    Like they own the road because their "colors" say so.   Not mention their "Lord of the Flies" hierarchy within the pack.  The back of their jacket has their pack "rank" a lot of times and they stick to that order like a troop of baboons on the veldt.   At least the superbike guys pass and are out of sight in 15 seconds.  The Harley packs tend to cause more problems by creating a rolling traffic jam.

They will yield to an 18-wheeler merging but would scoff at a Miata and try to run it off the road.   This is because truckers are "real Americans" and Miata drivers are" traitors" because they didn't "buy American".  

One lady at my company belonged to one of these Harley motorcycle group riding clubs.  She was in charge of safety(!)  at our company.  We would go to safety meetings with her explaining such topics as safety in the office, safety at job sites, safety while driving.  

She never failed to mention her weekend group ride going 100mph.  She would tell us that for some reason she just forgot about safety when going 100mph on her Harley.   She used to ride the Harley to work sometimes.  Her helmet had one of those giant Greek Warrior fringes on top that looked like an overgrown Mohawk.      We placed bets on how long before she crashed... 

Motorcycle gangs...

Making friends, wearing matching outfits, going on adventures together.

Those lucky ducks!

Seriously though, group rides of more than three people suck. The only big ride I do is the toy run, because every kid should have something to open on Christmas morning.